Dear Beacon Network Families,

After close to three decades in public education, I have never experienced a situation like the one we are all currently navigating with the universal move to the remote learning environment. As many of you know, earlier today, DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova announced that we will continue in this format for the remainder of the school year. This reality is difficult for all of us to accept as we miss the daily interactions with our students and others in the school community. While we realize this difficult decision is absolutely necessary in order to provide the safest and healthiest setting for our staff and students, we are incredibly disappointed that we will not be able to afford our student learners some of the opportunities provided to them in a  face-to-face environment. Please know we are deeply committed to ensuring that all of our students have a meaningful and positive learning experience in the coming weeks and throughout Quarter 4. While there will undoubtedly be challenges ahead, we are emphasizing that each of us remember the importance of operating with patience, empathy and teamwork in this crucial and unique school chapter. We will ultimately emerge from this time stronger, with greater clarity and conviction with regards to meeting the needs of each student through Personalized Learning and the numerous teaching techniques supported by the 1:1 technology aspect of our Beacon Network programming. We will see this as a chance to grow in both of these important categories in order to maximize our effectiveness in educating our students at the critical middle school level.

In an effort to ensure all students have access to technology to begin coursework as scheduled on Tuesday, April 7, we will have an additional day of distribution at both Grant Beacon and Kepner Beacon. On Monday, April 6th from 9:00am until 12:00noon, both schools will again offer a “drive-thru” chromebook checkout window. Please remain in your vehicle and one of our team members will assist you curbside. The format will mimic the guidelines utilized last week when we successfully distributed a large percentage of our chromebook inventory Network-wide. It is our hope that students find the use of their personal device beneficial as this is a tool they are extremely familiar with as part of the Beacon learning environment. We are grateful that many of our students are ahead of their peers in this arena and are prepared to continue their learning without the need to introduce the virtual/online/technology aspect to them in order to advance academically. . We believe these unanticipated circumstances will allow us to further our partnership with parents in this arena as you guide and assist your child at home with the Moodle format and online schedule we have created to provide structure and consistency for all involved.

With that in mind, please continue to refer to the Beacon Network Schools website for information and guidance about the Remote Learning Plan we have developed for all students. All of us are here to assist you with questions and concerns as you familiarize yourself with this new format and as we collectively walk through the remainder of Quarter 4.  Students will receive regular communication from staff members and are encouraged to contact their teachers and others via email, google chat and Google +. It is critical we all stay connected and students feel authentically engaged and supported throughout this time. We recognize personally and professionally the additional stress and anxiety this situation may create, especially for children and teens. Please remind your child that we are still beside them, dedicated to their academic growth and overall well-being.

Finally, in this trying time, we hope you will join us in emphasizing to our young learners the importance of community, connection and compassion. We want to work together and seek the best results by remaining a unified, collaborative front that sees the best in others, believes in potential and promise and walks with purpose to the other side of these unsettling and unprecedented times. We are here for you.

Respectfully,
Alex Magãna